Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Gopher Derby News and Updates

We introduce a new feature to the Ranch Journal. In the sidebar we have a set of photos from the Gopher Derby that are now on Flickr. I'll be posting new photos there as they come in, so if you're the kind of person who would like to see all the gory details, there you have it. On Flickr you are welcome to post comments for Popsey ("Atta 'boy," "You're the bomb," etc.)

We were at the Farmer's Market last weekend, and I talked with a farmer friend about gophers. He gave me some great advice on a new trap. We tried it out, and since then Popsey's caught three gophers—two since last night!

Farmer Friend (FF) recommended using the Cinch Trap, instead of the Black Hole traps that we've been using. The Black Holes worked well at first, but lately it's been a bit slow. FF says that the gophers on their farm were too big to fit in the Black Hole traps, and would just push dirt into them. We've been seeing a lot of that.

According to FF, you need to buy the mole Cinch Traps, and not the gopher ones. The mole ones are a better size for some reason, although we are not trying to catch moles. We like moles. They are good for the garden. They aerate the soil and eat bugs, and do not destroy or eat plants on purpose. And they have cute, little, pink noses. The worst damage they do is occasionally disturbing the roots of a plant when they're tunneling through, but we can forgive them for that.